388 Greenwich Street, originally called the Shearson Lehman Plaza, and more recently the Travelers Building, is a skyscraper located at 388 Greenwich Street, with facings on N. Moore and West Streets, in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. 388 Greenwich Street forms a complex with the neighboring 10-story 390 Greenwich Street near the Hudson River. Currently, the two buildings comprise the global headquarters of financial services corporation Citigroup. 388 Greenwich stands about ten blocks north of the World Trade Center site and is among the tallest in TriBeCa. Like many other office buildings in Manhattan, 388 Greenwich Street contains in addition to office space, a fitness center, full-service dining facilities, a medical center, a conference center, a day care center, and an outdoor park. The building is one of the few in New York to utilize double-deck elevators. On September 11, 2001, the building's courtyard was used as a triage center.[1][2]

Umbrella icon

The building was well known by New York residents for its large 50feet-by-50 ft 4-story red neon umbrella mounted in May 1997 near the top of its north-facing side that some found emblematic and others distracting.[3][4][5] Complementing this neon sign, an iconic, steel 16feet, 5300lbs red umbrella sculpture also stood outside 388 Greenwich St at street-level.[6] Both have been removed from the building, the latter in the summer of 2007, as part of a deal between Citigroup and St. Paul Travelers Companies which acquired the logo.

Sale

In December 2007, 388 Greenwich Street and 390 Greenwich Street were sold by Citigroup in order to reduce real estate exposure on its balance sheet. The complex was acquired by a joint venture consisting of SL Green Realty and SITQ for U$1.58 billion.[7] Citigroup, however, maintained their primary presence in the complex through a 15-year leaseback arrangement.[8] In 2016 the bank bought it back.[9] and moved their headquarters there,[10] from 399 Park Avenue.